Presentation Type

Presenter Information

Presenter Major(s)

Biopsychology, Psychology

Mentor Information

Xandra Xu

Department

Psychology

Location

Henry Hall Atrium 44

Start Date

11-4-2012 9:00 AM

Keywords

Environment, Health, Life Science

Abstract

Learning is pivotal in the cognitive development of all creatures and deficits in this respect can be detrimental to one's ability to function in society. Previous research has demonstrated that embryonic methylmercury (MeHg) exposure in zebrafish affects learning and produces hyperactivity. The current study aims to investigate the heritability of these adverse neurobehavioral effects by testing the offspring of zebrafish that were subjected to embryonic MeHg exposure. In order to evaluate the learning capabilities of zebrafish they were trained to associate a light with being shocked and to avoid this shock they could swim to a darkened compartment underneath a manually raised divider. By assessing the ability of zebrafish to learn this task we will be able to evaluate the transgenerational heritability of the neurobehavioral effects of embryonic MeHg exposure.

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Learning is pivotal in the cognitive development of all creatures and deficits in this respect can be detrimental to one's ability to function in society. Previous research has demonstrated that embryonic methylmercury (MeHg) exposure in zebrafish affects learning and produces hyperactivity. The current study aims to investigate the heritability of these adverse neurobehavioral effects by testing the offspring of zebrafish that were subjected to embryonic MeHg exposure. In order to evaluate the learning capabilities of zebrafish they were trained to associate a light with being shocked and to avoid this shock they could swim to a darkened compartment underneath a manually raised divider. By assessing the ability of zebrafish to learn this task we will be able to evaluate the transgenerational heritability of the neurobehavioral effects of embryonic MeHg exposure.